Brass Tacks

["Joan Opyr" <auntiestablishment@hotmail.com>]

Doug, Doug, Doug:

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of reading many Christian works of 
marvelous subtlety--Paradise Lost, Pilgrim’s Progress, and the Old English 
Exodus to name but a few.  There is nothing subtle about this piece from 
Credenda Agenda.  It is to Christian hermeneutics what the sledgehammer is 
to brain surgery.  As for my reading it “bizarrely,” I think it’s odd that 
someone who insists upon a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible should 
expect a nuanced reading of his own words.  Why?  Does this piece not mean 
what it says?  Do I need a secret decoder ring?

And, quite frankly, Doug, I am surprised to find you reviving the old blood 
libel in an attempt to bolster your argument.  This vicious, hate-mongering, 
anti-Semitic slur is current only with terrorists and skinheads, and it has 
no business tripping lightly from anyone’s keyboard, particularly not in 
defense of a flippant analogy.

Let’s dispense with the Latin, the backgammon, and the casuistry and get 
down to brass tacks.  I moved here ten years ago for two reasons: 1) I 
thought this was a charming, progressive community and 2) my partner is a 
Moscow native.  Though I often find life in Idaho exasperating, I really 
like this town.  I like the Farmer’s Market, the Renaissance Fair, the 
Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and Rendezvous in the Park.  I like my doctor, 
my dentist, and my dog’s veterinarian.  I like the checkers at the grocery 
store who know me by name; I like shopping at the Tri-State, and Hodgins’, 
and Bookpeople; I like living in a university town surrounded by wheat 
fields.  I have found Moscow to be an open and affirming place, friendly 
without being intrusive, filled with people who are funny, intelligent, and 
diverse.

I am not playing checkers, chess, or tiddlywinks; I am arguing with you.  
That’s what people in a democracy do when they have genuine disagreements 
over the future of their community.  I believe that there is enough room 
here for you and for me, but I don’t want to see you pound what I like best 
about Moscow into rubble so you can pack it into your concrete forms.  
That’s my community agenda in toto.  What’s yours?

Yours sincerely,
Auntie Establishment/Joan




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